GEORGE BALL

Ball filed this on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. The Republicans had for the first time in political history run a blitz of TV Campaign Commercials which was, to many people, shocking and an infringement on the rights of the general audience. By the time the complaint was heard, both parties were using the new technique and the public has been “blitzed” and “saturated” with politics ever since. But there was a time, 1952, that many people thought of campaign media commercials as oral “spam.”

In a way, this 1952 prediction presaged Ronald Reagan

Television was a new campaign technique and the Democrats had been trying to broadcast entire Stevenson speeches. But the cost was very high and the Republicans who more quickly embraced the new political tool had been producing and running short 30 second and 1 minute advertisement “spots.” This was to the intellectuals of the day a very ethically questionable practice as it resembled advertising and marketing of consumer products. Ball in this quotation told the staff that in order to compete in the then new campaign world of television, the Democrats too would have to use “spots”—political TV advertisements. From this campaign onward, television would become the dominant political communications medium and “spots” became not only acceptable but became the dominant TV technique and the telecasting of entire speeches of the candidates would no longer be broadcast. See candidate Stephenson’s remark about the subject: #

Ball filed this on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. The Republicans had for the first time in political history run a blitz of TV Campaign Commercials which was, to many people, shocking and an infringement on the rights of the general audience. By the time the complaint was heard, both parties were using the new technique and the public has been “blitzed” and “saturated” with politics ever since. But there was a time, 1952, that many people thought of campaign media commercials as oral “spam.”

A revolution had started in Brazil, and the President was inclined to provide support to the revolutionaries. Ball urged waiting until it was sure that the revolution would succeed, and then provide aid.

In a way, this 1952 prediction presaged Ronald Reagan